Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM series
Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM, known in Japan as the Mitchell Van Morgan: Mitchell Ultimate Series (Japanese: ミッチェル・ヴァン・モルガン：ミッチェル・アルティメット・シリーズ, Hepburn: Mitcheru vu~an Morugan: Mitcheru arutimetto shirīzu), is a series of fighting video games, based on the popular manga and television series Mitchell Van Morgan by MITCHELL Project, for the PlayStation 2. They were distributed by Nickelodeon Interactive Games, developed by CyberConnect2 and published by THQ (Now by Nordic Games Group AB) starting with Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM in 2005. It was followed by four more titles for the PlayStation 2, as well as five spinoffs for the PlayStation Portable, and a follow-up title for the PlayStation 3 entitled Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power. The release of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 marked the first game in the series to appear on a console outside the Sony PlayStation brand (Xbox 360) in addition to being released on the PlayStation 3. Gameplay In the Ultimate Ninja Series line, the player controls one of the characters within the Naruto anime and manga. The simple goal is to fight the opposing character and to win by reducing their health to zero. Along with the various weapons available to the characters also have their various special abilities taken straight from the series (Naruto Uzumaki's Rasengan or Sasuke Uchiha's Chidori, for example). To use these attacks, however, the player must have the required chakra as indicated by the "chakra bars" located under the players health. Using the technique drains the chakra bar (which can be regained through various methods, including special, character specific methods for some characters). These special techniques are not performed in real-time, however; once successfully executed, a cinematic takes place, where the player either has to fill a bar to a specific level or hit buttons illustrated in the corner of the screen faster than their opponent to assure the attack is at its full strength. All characters can use the substitution jutsu, although some characters use different versions (two variants of Substitution exist; one which evades normal attacks, and another which begins a tug-of-war like minigame after juggling an opponent). Also, some characters have specific transformations available to them (such as Sasuke's Curse Mark of Heaven with the right amount of chakra or, in the later games, by successfully executing their special technique). The first two games of the Ultimate Ninja series let players execute three different secret technique attacks using three different Chakra levels (red, purple, and blue, in order of weakest to strongest), two different signature techniques, and a wide variety of kicks and punches. However, in Ultimate Ninja 3, players are only allowed to use one secret technique attack, besides the other attacks and techniques. To compensate for this, players will be allowed to select the secret technique of their choice before each battle, but not all secret techniques will be made available at the start of the game. Different secret techniques must be obtained through story mode and completing missions. ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM'' series ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM, known in Japan as Mitchell Van Morgan: Mitchell Ultimate Hero|(Japanese: ミッチェル・ヴァン・モルガン：ミッチェル・アルティメット・ヒーロー|Naruto: Narutimetto Hīrō 2), is the second installment of the fighting game series Naruto: Ultimate Ninja. Like some other Naruto games in Japan, this one was available in two covers: one featuring Naruto Uzumaki along with several different characters in the background, and the other with Sasuke Uchiha and several other characters. The game was released on September 30, 2004 in Japan, June 13, 2007 in North America, and October 19, 2007 in Europe. Ultimate MVM features a similar gameplay experience to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2, featuring many of the same gameplay elements and geography. The game replaces the arcade-style story mode from the original game with an RPG-esque story mode that loosely covers the events up to episode 96 in the anime as well as a filler arc made up for the game involving a special seal made by Orochimaru. This is the last game to feature support characters until Ultimate Ninja 5 as they were excluded in Ultimate Ninja 3. This time, the support characters are no longer fixed and all characters in the game have the ability to become support characters. There is a total of 32 characters featured in the game (33 in the Japanese version with the inclusion of Doto Kazahana as a promotion for the movie Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow. The promotion also include two stages from the movie that were not included in the overseas version). All characters have the ability to activate special modes during battle (unlike the original game which restrict the modes to several characters). ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM 2'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM 2, known in Japan as Mitchell Van Morgan: Mitchell Ultimate Hero 2 is the second installment of the fighting game series Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM. It was released in North America on August 28, 2007 and in Europe on September 14, 2007. It is essentially an edited version of Naruto: Narutimate Portable, which also happens to be a scaled down version of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2. Story Mode, Kabuto, Shizune, The Third Hokage, and two stages were removed in this release, while Naruto & Sasuke's secret techniques were modified to prevent spoilers (as the English dub had not reached the Sasuke Retrieval arc yet). To compensate for these removals, the game now has a 3-on-3 battle system, similar to The King of Fighters; where the first team to defeat all 3 members of the other team wins. The game features 20 characters, 8 Stages, and several new features, such as a three-on-three fighting system, wireless two-player battles, and "Hidden Team Skills", which grant special abilities to a certain combination of characters. ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM 3'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM 3, known as in Japan as Mitchell Van Morgan: Mitchell Ultimate Hero 3 (Japanese: Mitcheru vu~an Morugan: Mitcheru arutimetto hīrō 3, Hepburn: Mitcheru vu~an Morugan: Mitcheru arutimetto hīrō 3), is the third installment of the fighting game series Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM. This game was released in Japan on December 22, 2005 in North America on March 25, 2008, in Australia on September 18, 2008. It was also released in England on September 15, 2008, but is only available in specific Tesco stores. This game features the largest character roster upon release, and third largest roster in the Ultimate Ninja series, with 42 characters, and covers the events up to episode 135 in the anime. The player can use equippable jutsu, a trend that began in the second game, and for the first time, equippable Ultimate Jutsu. When two jutsus of the same strength clash, the game cuts to a jutsu clash, in which the player or players must rapidly press a specific button repeatedly, until either jutsu wins out over the other. In this installment, the player is to both induce temporary transformations (such as Sasuke's Curse Mark, and Rock Lee's Eight Inner Gates) through Ultimate Jutsu, and other, more permanent ones, that last the entire rest of the fight (like Nine-Tailed Naruto or the Second State Curse Mark). The game also heavily expands on the previous game's RPG mode, and is the first in the series to use CGI cutscenes. The player also has the ability to summon other characters through the use of Ultimate Jutsu, such as Gamabunta. However, support characters have been removed and the game restricts the player to use only one Ultimate Jutsu for each battle instead of the usual preset three (though they can be changed before battle). Additionally, the Japanese version comes with a bonus DVD that includes a special 26-minute Anime OVA. It features many characters from the series, both living and dead, making it a non-canon release. The basic plot centers around a Battle Royale tournament, providing players with hints to be used in the RPG mode contained in the game. the gameplay returns the The King of Fighters-styled 3-on-3 battle system and the 1-on-1 battle system from the original game on this game's multiplayer mode. ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Online'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Onlie is a free MMORPG browser game made by Nickelodeon Games Group and Cyberconnect2 with collaboration from Nordic Games GmbH. The production is led by Nickelodeon and under supervision by the production committee of Nickelodeon Animation Studios, MITCHELL Project and Studio Pierrot. ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Mobile'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Mobile is the first mobile platform game developed by THQ Nordic and CyberConnect2, published and distributed by Nickelodeon. It is currently available on iOS and Android. Currently, the game's story line covers the Mitchell series until the fight of Tsunade and Jiraiya vs Orochimaru. ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power'' series ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power, known in Japan as Mitchell Van Morgan: Mitchell Ultimate Power (ミッチェル・ヴァン・モルガン：ミッチェル・アルティメット・パワー Mitcheru vu~an Morugan: Mitcheru arutimetto pawā) is a fighting game distributed by Nickelodeon Interactive Games, developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Nordic Games GmbH. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Xbox 360 (360) across North America, Europe and Australia in November 2008 and in Japan on January 15, 2009. It is based on Nickelodeon's Mitchell Van Morgan series made by MITCHELL Project, and the first installment of the Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM series on the Xbox 360. The game features a 3 dimensional fighting style and has 25 characters. It also features boss battles and awakenings for the first time. ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power 2'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power 2, known in Japan as Mitchell Van Morgan: Mitchell Ultimate Power 2 (Japanese: ミッチェル・ヴァン・モルガン：ミッチェル・アルティメット・パワー2, Hepburn: Mitcheru vu~an Morugan: Mitcheru arutimetto pawā 2) released on 15 October 2010 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles and features 42 characters ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power 3'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power 3, known in Japan as Mitchell Van Morgan: Mitchell Ultimate Power 3 (Japanese: ミッチェル・ヴァン・モルガン：ミッチェル・アルティメット・パワー3, Hepburn: Mitcheru vu~an Morugan: Mitcheru arutimetto pawā 3) was officially announced on June 24, 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game features 80 characters and 7 support characters and A new feature called "The Ultimate Decision" has been added, in which players can create alternate story endings. Mob Battles akin to Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Impact have also been implemented as do the giant boss battles from previous Storm games (which was removed in Generations). Characters' Awakening modes can also be activated any time during battle for certain characters, at the cost of the chakra bar shrinking. It was released in March 5, 2013 in US, March 8 in UK and April 18 in Japan. The game's storyline starts with a flashback of the Nine Tails Invasion then flash-forward to the events of the Five Kage Summit arc, after which it mainly centers around the Fourth Great Ninja War arc. ''Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power Generations'' Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Power Generations, known in Japan as Mitchell Van Morgan: Mitchell Ultimate Power Generations (Japanese: ミッチェル・ヴァン・モルガン：ミッチェル・アルティメット・パワージェネレーションズ, Hepburn: Mitcheru vu~an Morugan: Mitcheru arutimetto pawājenerēshonzu) was officially announced on June 18, 2011 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It features characters a total of 72 characters and 15 support characters. It was released on February 23, 2012 in Japan, March 13, 2012 in North America, and March 30, 2012 in Europe. However this game's story mode is unique; instead of a main story, it features cutscenes that use the anime style of artwork. The story mode has several different characters, each with their own story. Reception |mc1 = 75 |game2 = Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 |gr2 = 73.85% |mc2 = 73 |game3 = Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 |gr3 = 77.33% |mc3 = 75 |game4 = Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes |gr4 = 72.54% |mc4 = 70 |game5 = Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress |gr5 = 68.10% |mc5 = 64 |game6 = Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4 |gr6 = 65.93% |mc6 = - |game7 = Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja 5 |gr7 = - |mc7 = - |game8 =Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3 |gr8 = 59.00% |mc8 = 61 |game9 = Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm |gr9 = 75.66% |mc9 = 75 |game10 = Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 |gr10 = 77.09% (PS3) 76.44% (360) |mc10 = 76 (PS3) 74 (360) |game11 = Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact |gr11 = 62.00% |mc11 =59 |game12 = Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations |gr12 = 75.11% (PS3) 75.71% (360) |mc12 = 74 (PS3 & 360) |game13 = Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 |gr13 = 77.08% (PS3) 66.45% (360) |mc13 = 77 (PS3) 70 (360) }} Various Ultimate Ninja games have become Namco Bandai's best-selling games with Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 being its second best-selling game from 2010 behind Tekken 6 with 1.1 million units sold. In January 2012, Namco Bandai announced that they have sold 10 million Naruto games worldwide, including 1.9 million units in Asia, 4.3 million in North America, and 3.8 million in Europe. In celebration CyberConnect2's CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama participated in the 2012 Paris International Marathon while cosplaying as Naruto Uzumaki, thanking fans. In 2016, more than 25 million units were sold. Critical reception to the games has been positive. G4's X-Play gave Ultimate Ninja a three out of five for a creative comicbook feel and stylish cel-shaded graphics, but complained that the controls are too simple, and that the English voices are "slightly questionable." Both IGN and GameSpot noted the game was both accessible and enjoyable and praised the anime/manga-inspired graphics. Titles for the PlayStation Portable received considerably lower averages in gaming sites. Ultimate Ninja Storm was also the only video game to win the Excellent Prize in the Entertainment Division of the 13th annual Japan Media Arts Festival. References External links * it:Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM Category:Mitchell Van Morgan: Ultimate MVM series Category:Paramount franchises